


Through your eyes

by Greengargouille



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-21 17:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8253983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greengargouille/pseuds/Greengargouille
Summary: An ensemble of moments shared between Mimura and Sugaya, from before 3-E to the end of the year.





	

When he saw his teacher rubs her eyes once more, Mimura felt guilty. **  
**

It’s been now two weeks since the 2-E started going in their future classroom. It’s been tough, walking up the hill everyday, in the fresh mornings of March. But Yukimura-sensei have shown them nothing but hope and understanding, even as days of teaching non-stop multiple subjects -combined probably with a night job, though she was suspiciously discreet on that topic- clearly exhausted her. The least they could do was letting her have every minute of rest she could get.

Yet Mimura had to come see her after the lessons and cleaning of the classroom to ask for help about the science homework. There was no way he wouldn’t feel guilty in such a situation. Especially given he didn’t really need any help. Even if he understood them this time, he had fallen too far behind to hope for decent marks. No matter what his optimistic teacher thought... there was little chance for him to get back to the main building. He wasn’t even sure he wanted that, to be honest : the school assemblies were already harsh to withstand, he couldn’t imagine bearing the judgmental looks of an entire class constantly on him.

But he had to ask. Not because it would change anything, but to at least being able to tell he tried. He would get no satisfaction from that, he knew. But that was one complaint his parents wouldn’t get to tell him.

Any guilt he could get from making his teacher work overtime was better than what his parents could make him feel.

“Do you have any other question, Mimura-kun ?  
-No, it’s... it’s okay.”

To be honest, he was tired, too. Even if his brain was able to come up with a new question, he wasn’t sure he would be able to remember the answer.

“You seems to have difficulties with this subject, will you be alright ? For now we’re only doing review, but once third year will start this kind of knowledge will be essential to understand the rest.  
-...Actually, I’m... not sure...?”

He was annoying. He was certain of it. But Yukimura-sensei only showed him a small, tired smile.

“If you want, I could give you more exercices.  
-Wouldn’t that give you more work ?  
-...That’s sweet of you to think about that, but you shouldn’t worry about that. It’s the role of a teacher to adapt to their students ! Besides-”

She got up from her desk, leaving the teacher’s room while speaking, with a hand gesture to ask him to follow her.

“-I have some extra books specifically for that, I leave them in the practical training room for students who finish their experiences earlier than the rest. Okuda-san told be some were a bit too simple, but that should be on your level.”

Oh, so that what were the books she was reading during the last chemistry exercise. She didn’t seem to be too much into literature, so he had wondered.

“The only thing I ask of you is to put them back where you found them after- Sugaya-kun, what are you doing ?!”

Yukimura-sensei’s explanation was cut short as she opened the room to a student, chalk in hand, drawing on the blackboard.

Mimura wasn’t too proud of this, but the sudden exclamation of his teacher had startled him. He understood her surprise : he didn’t expect anyone else to still be there, much less for something like doodling.

No, doodle wasn’t the right word, he thought as his eyes switched from the embarrassed student to the blackboard. There was no part of it that was left untouched, instead covered in blue and white small, irregular stripes-like undefined forms. It took a minute for Mimura to understand it was meant to represent ripples on water. Somehow, this picture had a familiar feeling. A reproduction, maybe ? He remembered the rumors back at the main building of a delinquent having copied _The Great Wave off Kanagawa_ on a chalkboard between two classes, and the others students were quite bothered having to clean the board once again and starting the lesson late. 

“Aaah, what should I do for you to stop... I don’t want to punish you... And we need to clean up this too...”

He snapped away from his thoughts, finally noticing Yukimura-sensei’s rambling. Her soft nature made it hard to deal with this kind of situation. Even the other boy made a flustered face, obviously unwilling to push this kind of problem on her.

Mimura didn’t know much about Sugaya. His comrade was tall and his hair had an interesting shade of silver, so he did notice him more than once while walking to class, but as for his personality there wasn’t much information. Mostly he seemed like the kind of guy living at his own pace, sleeping during the early lessons and, if Sugino was to be believed, drawing amazing things in his exercise book instead of taking notes. Troublesome for the teacher, but harmless enough for the students to not pay much attention to him.

“It’s already this late, too...  
-Excuse me, Yukimura-sensei,” Mimura interrupted her, “if you need to leave, then maybe I and Sugaya-kun could wash the blackboard while you organize your stuff ? You can come back and verify we cleaned it once you’re done.  
-...That... That would be great, but... Are you sure...?  
-It’s the students’ job in the first place to tidy up the building.  
-...Right. Thank you. I will be back in twenty minutes, so take your time, okay ? I’m in the teachers’ room if you need me.”

She seemed relieved, though something else was on her mind, given how she quickly walked away. Oh, that’s right, didn’t she said she was meeting someone this evening, or something like that ? Though that was because they were all pushing her for details on why she was so joyful.

“Thank you.  
-...Hm ?”

Mimura didn’t expect those words from the other boys.

“To be honest, I was going to clean it after drawing, I didn’t expect Yukimura-sensei to come like that...  
-Wouldn’t it be normal for her to verify nobody else is there before leaving, though ?  
-...I didn’t think about it that far. Hm, anyways... If you want, I can... wash it by myself, since... it’s my fault.  
-No, it’s alright.” It would be his way to feel less guilty about making their teacher stay a bit longer at school. “Do you want to take a photo before we erase it ?  
-Nah, I’m fine.” Seeing the curious glance that was directed at him, Sugaya explained. “It’s like the sand mandalas, dismantling it is part of the process.”

Mimura didn’t know anything about sand mandalas, so he just nodded without thinking much about it.

“I’m going to get water and a sponge, can you wipe it off with the duster meanwhile ?  
-Sure.”

The cleaning materials were at the same place they were left in the afternoon after the students took care of the building, like every time after classes, so Mimura didn’t take much time. They would end that quickly and he could go home. He shouldn’t forget to look at the books before leaving.

...Still, that drawing. It came back in his mind when seeing the ripples of the water filling the bucket. He was sure he saw it somewhere else. 

Ripples on the surface of water... A lake, maybe...?

...Ah.

* * *

“ _Sazanami_.”

Sugaya was startled by the sudden apparition of his comrade, the bucket at his side dangerously on the point of spilling water due to the quick walk he endured.

“What ?  
-The drawing. It’s a replica of _Sazanami_ , right ?  
-Ah... yes...”

The taller boy looked back at the board and continued erasing. Mimura felt a little proud for remembering the name, but his attitude just made the ambiance awkward. Perfect. Is there was anything he could do without embarrassing himself, honestly.

“So, you like Fukuda Heihachiro ?  
-Fu...?  
-...The one who drew _Sazanami_.  
-...Oh. Hm, not particularly. I just remembered this picture, that’s all.”

Mimura blurted out his quick answer while starting to wash away the remaining chalk where the duster had wiped the most part with a wet sponge. Now that he thought about it, it have been weird to get excited over it. He felt his cheeks get pinkier from his ashaming behaviour.

“And you ? You like him, I guess, if you reproduce his work.  
-Not particularly.” Sugaya responded without a hint of awkwardness. “There was an article about him in one of the art magazine I read, so I thought it would be nice to do that.  
-Ah, you’re into art.” As if that wasn’t evident. Great reasoning skills, Mimura.  
“Who isn’t ?” _My parents_ , he wanted to respond. “Art is pretty amazing. Like, two people who doesn’t speak the same language can still see the same picture and understand the same thing.  
-...I wonder about that.” Mimura was on the tip of his toes, his arms stretched to wipe the upper part of the blackboard. How was he able to draw this high ? Tall people were so _annoying_.  
-Ah, let me do this.”

Sugaya took the sponge from his hands, his long fingers almost brushing Mimura’s ones. It was much easier for him to reach the limits of the board. Of course.

“What did you mean by ‘I wonder’ ?” There was a trace of curiosity in his voice that wasn’t present before.  
“Well, even if two people look at the same picture, what they will see depends on their experience, no ?”

Just like an hopeful video could be interpreted as an insult by other people. Or an hard work could be seen as useless waste of time.

“I’m not following you.  
-Hm... how to explain it... Let’s take a sound. Cicadas’ cries and glass wind bells. What would that remind you of ?  
-Summer, obviously.  
-But for someone born outside Japan, that might not be that obvious. Well, cicadas exist in other countries, but... if you grew up without those sounds, then even understanding where they come from, knowing that cicadas are active during summer or that you put furin on the windows during this season, they won’t bring you any feeling.  
-...Ah, I think I understand your point. But I wouldn’t say that’s true for everything. For example, the ripples in water. Everybody have seen that.  
-Hm...” Even if Mimura would argue that different people wouldn’t have the same experience of it depending from where they were from, it seemed hard to prove it. “Then, between a person who almost died drowning and someone who goes swimming every day. Do you think they would feel the same way about water ?  
-...No, they wouldn’t.” There was still hesitation in Sugaya’s tone.  
“Exactly. So, when two people watch the same thing, I don’t think you can tell they truly understood it the same way. No, you can even say that both of their opinion is probably different from the artist’s intent.  
-...That’s... kind of sad.  
-That’s how things are.” Mimura responded bitterly.

It was a tough lesson to shallow. No matter the amount of effort and technique you put in your work... You could never be sure it would be understood. No, even if someone got the meaning, it certainly wouldn’t be as significant for the viewer than for the creator. 

His parents were probably right in calling those things ‘useless’. There was no point in a message whose meaning was unintelligible.

There was a minute of heavy silence between them. Mimura watched the last remnants of the drawing disappearing as if they never existed. Only the color of the bucket’s water was proof that something was there. 

“I will warn Yukimura-sensei that we finished, can you put the bucket back with the other stuffs ?  
-...Yes.”

After a glance at the clean chalkboard, Mimura went to the teachers’ room. 

There was a time he thought he wanted to make something like _that_ scene. That drama. Something so impactful you wouldn’t need to understand it completely to feel moved. Something that would inspire others.

Maybe he should have told Sugaya that those kind of work existed, instead of talking about meaning. But, thinking about it, that annoyed him. He didn’t know the boy’s skills, but as for himself, he knew that kind of work would forever be out of reach. The best he could do would probably be some pale copy of someone else's creation.

...Still. That drawing. Even if that was a replica, it was beautiful.

After leaving Yukimura-sensei, Mimura was surprised. At the shoes cupboard, someone was waiting for him. 

“...I thought we could walk together.” Sugaya didn’t search how to justify himself. Mimura was a bit envious of that attitude. If it was him, he would try to find excuses to approach someone.

“...If you don’t mind my conversation, then sure.  
-No, it...” He interrupted himself, unsure of how to formulate his sentence. “What you said. I thought it was interesting.  
-..Really ?” Mimura raised an eyebrow at that, despite facing his shoe cubby.  
“Yes, it’s... unusual. Back at the Art club, we talked a lot about this or that artist, but not so much about... Art as a concept ? I never thought about it too much.  
-That’s surprising.” 

Wait, no, if he thought about it the Film Research club wasn’t that different. They didn’t talk that much about theory, more the technical aspects. Arguing wouldn’t be good for the harmony of the group in the long term.

...Was it Mimura’s eyes that deceived him, or was Sugaya looking really attentively at his indoor shoes ?

“..Is there something wrong with my shoes ?  
-...! No, I...” The taller boy sighed, caught doing something he was trying to hide. “...I wanted to see if your name was written on them.  
-...We’re not in primary school anymore.  
-...Anyways, I’m sorry, but I don’t know. Your name, was it Kimura or Mimura ?” Oh. That’s right. Yukimura-sensei did mix up their name sometimes.Neither of them really stood out, so that was to be expected.  
“Mimura.  
-Right, Mimura-kun.”

The walk home went surprisingly smoothly, considering how awkward was their precedent conversation. Rather than talking about art, they exchanged small talk, little informations like where did they live, their past club, which drama they liked watching. They even added each other as friends on the LINE app before separating. That... was nice. Mimura didn’t remember the last time he interacted like that with someone.

It’s only once home that he noticed.

He had forgotten the books Yukimura-sensei told him to look at.


End file.
